


On the wings of forever

by AndalusianSunshine



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Sergio still has long hair in this, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 16:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16936761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndalusianSunshine/pseuds/AndalusianSunshine
Summary: Ever wondered why you met me and fell in love over coffee?Well, you were looking so damn pretty, i forgot to breathFernando and Sergio meet on a cold Saturday morning in the campus coffee shop





	On the wings of forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [londonbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/londonbird/gifts).



> I wrote this all the way back in 2016, but it was never really in any shape to be published. I figured your birthday was the perfect occasion to finally fix it :) I hope you'll like it.
> 
> Most of this fic was inspired by the song _Weekend_ by VÉRITÈ 
> 
> Lyrics in the summary taken from _Lana del dre_ by Tep No, title borrowed from _Touch the sky_ by Hillsong United

When Sergio sees Fernando for the first time it's a cold saturday morning. It's way too early in the day to be awake and he's in desperate need for coffee. His head is pounding from last night’s hangover and while he waits in line to be served he dreads the moment when he has to join his rowdy friends in the corner, who are most probably already joyously planning tonight's drunken escapades.

It's in that moment when he wrecks his brain for an escape plan, that his eyes fall onto Fernando, sitting quietly at a table and poring over his laptop. Later his friends will say that it was the freckles and blonde hair, the prettiness of his face that made him abandon them in favor of Fernando, but in fact it's something else entirely, something he can't really put his finger on, but that draws him inevitably over to his table anyway.

 

When Fernando sees Sergio for the first time, it's not really for the first time and the sensation he feels is an entirely different one. He's never met the guy in person before, but everyone at their school knows who Sergio Ramos is: Captain of the football team, notorious playboy. Frowning at the long haired boy, he can't help appreciate the luscious lips, the chocolate brown eyes and the well-toned body covered in ink, but then there's his group of obnoxiously loud friends that will most likely chase him out of the cafe sooner or later with their meaningless chatter and their teasing comments and it wouldn't be for the first time either.

"Hi," Sergio says when he stops at Fernando's table, two mugs of steaming coffee in hand. "I figured you could use a new one."

"How do you know my name?" Fernando asks, wonders what in the world Sergio is doing talking to him.

"I asked the guy at the counter, said you come here almost every day."

"Why?"

"Can I sit?" Sergio asks, drawing a chair out for himself without waiting for an answer.

Fernando shrugs. "Help yourself." He takes a sip from his coffee, tastes the familiar flavor of his favorite brand on his tongue and the fact the Sergio bothered to find out his favorite drink puts a strange twist in his stomach.

"So…what are you studying?" Sergio glances at Fernando over the brim of his own mug.

Fernando's eyes flicker with suspicion. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing, you looked like you needed a break…so i figured i'd bring you something to refuel."

"Thanks?" Fernando wonders if this is some kind of elaborate ruse to embarrass him, studies Sergio's face for any signs but finds nothing but openness and genuine interest in his eyes. The realization throws him off more than he likes to admit. "Look, i don't mean to be rude, but i'm trying to finish my homework here."

"Anything I can help with," Sergio offers and Fernando almost laughs.

"I don't think you'd be much help, my program keeps crashing and i can’t seem to find the mistake," and he's not trying to be prejudiced here but there's no chance in hell that someone like Sergio Ramos would know enough about computers to be of any kind of help.

Sergio doesn't seem perturbed by the insinuation. "You could let me have a look anyway. What do you have to lose?"

Fernando shrugs and turns his laptop around. "Fine, knock yourself out." He sips his coffee while Sergio studies the code intently and if Fernando didn't know any better, he'd think Sergio was actually able to understand what he’s looking at.

"I think I found your mistake," Sergio announces just as Fernando puts his empty mug down. He arches an eyebrow in disbelief. There’s some furious typing going on and then Sergio leans back in his chair, cracking his knuckles with a pleased smirk.

Fernando spins his laptop around, more than surprised to discover that Sergio actually fixed his mistake.

"How did you…?" he begins, but doesn't know how to finish without being insulting.

Sergio smirks, completely unaffected by Fernando’s perception of him. "I took some computer science classes, figured they'd come in handy eventually."

"Huh…”

"Not what you expected from me?" Sergio smirks and Fernando is once again surprised by his disarming honesty.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I’m used to people not bothering to look past the gossip that floats around campus."

Fernando suddenly feels incredibly guilty, he’s always detested people who jumped to conclusions too easily, without any proper proof. "So what’s the real Sergio Ramos like then?" he finds himself asking and discovers he actually genuinely wants to know more about him.

Sergio tells him about himself then, about how he wants to be a graphic designer after he graduates, how he likes to draw and listen to flamenco in his free time, how football got him into college when his family didn't have the money to send another child to school. One coffee turns to two, then three and Fernando can't get enough of listening to Sergio’s voice.

"So, I guess this is it, now you know everything there is to know about me," Sergio finishes eventually, grinning up at Fernando who loses his breath under the full force of Sergio's smile.

"Listen, thank you for helping me out with my assignment, i was going crazy staring at my screen," Fernando says when the silence between them starts to grow heavy. "I guess I owe you one."

“It was my pleasure,” Sergio smiles. Around them the coffee shop is starting to clear out, the staff getting ready to close up for the day. "How about you take me somewhere else," he suggests, not quite ready yet to let their day come to an end.

Fernando startles at Sergio's forwardness, but even more so at his own following reaction. “We could go to this gallery i found last week. They show drawings from comic books and animated movies. I was going to check it out some other time, but if you want we could go right now." He waits anxiously for Sergio's answer, realizes with a jolt that he really wants him to accept.

*

When they emerge from the gallery hours later the sun is already setting on the horizon and Sergio can’t believe he spent the better part of his day wandering through stuffy rooms filled with old books. He stares at Fernando's freckles and the blush of his pale skin under the fading light of the day and he can't remember the last time he had this much fun with anyone.

"So..," Sergio says when they're back outside, awkwardly rocking back and forth on his heels. "Thanks for bringing me here, i didn't even know this place existed."

"Sure," Fernando shrugs, doesn't know what else to say, doesn't want to go home just yet. "You know, I'd love to see your drawings some time," he declares, doesn't really know why he says it.

Sergio's pulse quickens ridiculously. "You could just come over to my place, I could show them to you. I mean, if you have nothing else to do," he offers, voice untypically shy, hope bubbling up in his chest.

"Yeah, why not. I've got nothing better to do anyway," Fernando agrees before he can talk himself out of it, before he forgets to breathe.

*

Sergio's apartment is warm and cozy and Fernando can't get over how well it fits Sergio’s character, doesn't even mind the mess as Sergio hurriedly picks up stray items and discarded clothes.

"Sorry," he apologizes red faced and since when has he ever cared what a guy thinks of his place?

Fernando waves him off. "Do you have anything to drink?" he asks for lack of something better to say.

Sergio gestures to the fridge. "Help yourself to whatever. I'll be right back," he disappears to his bedroom, so Fernando ventures into the kitchen, grabs two bottles of beer and settles on the sofa.

Sergio comes back and dumps a large folder on the table. Fernando hands him a beer.

"Thanks."

They clink bottles before Sergio takes a long drag, a strangely anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach as Fernando picks up the folder. "Don't laugh."

"I won't," he opens the folder and then he can't say anything anymore as he flips through Sergio's sketches, breath stuck in his throat at the beauty of the drawings.

Sergio bounces on the edge of the sofa, impatiently waiting for Fernando's verdict, stares at his freckles hungrily. "So…what do you think?" he asks when he finally can't take it anymore.

"They're absolutely amazing," Fernando says, voice filled with adoration. "You should try to get them published."

"Nah," Sergio shakes his head dismissively. "They're not that good."

"Oh believe me, they are."

"Well, my friends don't think so."

"That's because your friends are idiots," Fernando declares solemnly, causes Sergio to burst out with laughter.

*

"I think I should go," Fernando says after they've watched three episodes of Vikings while eating themselves through the contents of Sergio's fridge. "I really have to study."

"Yeah, me too,” Sergio nods reluctantly. “I'm so unbelievably far behind."

Fernando drags himself off the sofa and he's almost at the door when Sergio realizes he really doesn't want to be alone right now, or maybe it's not so much the loneliness but the upcoming lack of Fernando in his apartment that makes him blurt out his next question.

"Why don't you just study here? I’ll order us some pizza. You've got your laptop and everything you need with you anyway."

The offer hangs awkwardly in the room while Fernando tries to figure out his answer without sounding too eager and God he can't believe how attached to Sergio he already is.

"Yeah, sure. Why not," he shrugs and hopes desperately that he comes over as casual as he intended to.

 

Hours later buried between books and paper at Sergio's kitchen table, Fernando closes his laptop on his last assignment with a relieved sigh and he can't believe that he finished a weekend's worth of homework in an entire night, but apparently with Sergio as a sounding board everything is possible. He's almost ashamed to admit how badly he misjudged the other guy.

"You done?" Sergio looks up from his book, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes.

"Yeah. I can't believe I finished all my work."

Sergio grins. "We make a pretty good team."

Fernando returns the smile while digging around in his bag for his phone, cursing when he glances at the screen. "Damn."

"What?"

"It's 2:30."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." Fernando begins rummaging through the mess on the table, separating his notes from Sergio's. "I better get going, it's gonna take me awhile to walk home."

"Why would you want to walk home?" Sergio's eyebrows furrow in confusion.  
"Because there’s no Metro after 1."

Sergio rubs his eyes tiredly. “Right. I forgot."

"So anyway. Thanks for helping me study."

"You could just stay over?" Sergio blurts out, wonders where that offer came from but finds he actually means it.

“You sure?"

"Yeah, you can sleep on the couch," he says, when what he really wants to say is, please sleep in my bed, with me. 

He escapes to his bedroom under the pretense of finding a blanket and something to wear for Fernando, spends most of the time staring at himself in the mirror, wonders what changed, tries to figure out the strange ache in his chest.

 

"Here," he says, thrusting a blanket and pillows into Fernando's open arms. "I brought you some of my clothes to sleep in, I hope they’ll fit."

Fernando takes the bundle, stands awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Thanks."

They stare at each other for a while, neither of them willing to part, neither of them knowing what to say.

Sergio breaks first. "Well, if you need anything, you know where to find me. Good night," he turns away and hurries to his bedroom, before he does something stupid, before he drags Fernando into his bed.

He crawls under the covers and his bed has never felt this empty. He thinks about Fernando on the other side of the door and can't fall asleep for hours.

 

In the living room, Fernando busies himself with arranging the pillows and blankets into a comfortable pile on the sofa. His gaze keeps traveling to Sergio's door and he wants nothing more than to cross the room and invite himself into Sergio's bed, but doesn't. Instead he snuggles under the blanket that almost smells like Sergio and falls asleep dreaming of chocolate brown eyes and plush lips.

* 

When Fernando wakes up the next morning, Sergio's already preparing breakfast. He walks into the kitchen eyes still half closed in sleep. "Morning." 

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" Sergio turns around, spatula in hand, takes in Fernando's sleep tousled form and loses his train of thought completely.

"Yeah. Your sofa is surprisingly comfy," Fernando says and doesn't know what to do with his hands, tries sliding them into his pockets but Sergio's sweats don't have any, so they end up hanging awkwardly by his side.

"Good," and Sergio can't stop staring at Fernando, can't believe how perfect he looks first thing in the morning, skin soft and hair a mess, wearing Sergio's clothes. The moment suddenly feels inexplicably intimate and Sergio’s heart trips in his chest.

"Hey, I'm meeting some friends in the park later to play some football. You wanna come?" and he knows he's starting to get pathetic, inviting Fernando to something new every time it feels like their time together is running out but he doesn't know what else to do. He's never felt quite like this before.

Fernando shrugs awkwardly. It’s not that he doesn’t want to go, on the contrary, he’d love nothing more but he hasn't played football in years and he hardly thinks he's up for a pick-up game with the captain of the football team. "I'm not sure that's a good idea,” he admits sadly. “I'm pretty out of practice.”

"Don't worry about it,” Sergio smiles. “I'm the only one on the team who plays regularly. The others all have normal jobs. We usually just kick the ball around for a bit and then we sit around and talk. I promise it's gonna be fun."

"In that case, how could I say no," Fernando beams at Sergio and he really shouldn't be this excited about a simple football game

"Awesome," Sergio jumps up excitedly. "I'm gonna go change, be right back."

Fernando's eyes widen in a mixture of surprise and horror when Sergio emerges ten minutes later dressed in a complete Real Madrid kit.

"Dear God, no,” Fernando groans and covers his eyes.

"What?" 

"You’re a madridista? Really?"

"Yes." Sergio stares him down defiantly. "Something wrong with that?"

Fernando grins. “I can think of quite a lot, to be honest.”

"Oh no, you're a rojiblanco, no?" Sergio face scrunches in disgust and Fernando can't help but laugh.

"And proud of it, too," he smirks.

"I guess no one's perfect," Sergio shrugs, but he can't stop grinning himself. "Do you wanna run by your place to change first?"

Fernando nods. "Sure."

"Let's go then."

 

They swing by Fernando's place where he digs up his old Atleti kit, just to spite Sergio and Sergio spends most of the way to the park mercilessly mocking him for his choice of clubs but Fernando gives back just as good and by the time they finally arrive at the park, both their stomachs hurt from laughing so much. Everyone else is already waiting, so Sergio hurries to introduce Fernando to all of his friends. Fernando is pleasantly surprised to discover that none of Sergio's obnoxious college friends seem to be around.

*

They play until the daylight fades and the sky opens up in a downpour. The night is warm and the rain soft on their skin as Fernando drags Sergio back to his apartment and they can't stop laughing as they drip all over Fernando's kitchen floor.

"I think I need a towel," Sergio laughs and tugs at the hem of his sopping wet jersey. The white fabric is completely soaked, see-through and clinging to Sergio’s body like a second skin. Fernando can see the outline of all of his tattoos.

"I need a beer," he groans, voice hoarse and he really needs to stop staring at Sergio’s chest. He grabs two beer out of the fridge, busies himself needlessly long with the bottle opener.

"Need any help?" Sergio asks, peeking over Fernando's shoulder curiously. Their bodies brush accidentally and the bottle opener slips from Fernando’s fingers, clutters noisily to the floor.

"Shit." Fernando hopes his cheeks aren't as red as they feel and they bend down at the same time, fingers brushing as they reach for the opener. His breath catches audibly and when he looks up their faces are impossibly close, so much so that Fernando feels like he’s drowning in Sergio's hazel eyes, can feel the warmth of Sergio's breath all over his skin. His pulse pounds and he can't stop staring at Sergio's lips.

They stare at each other for what feels like forever, the dripping of their wet clothes the only sound in the room and Sergio looks devastatingly beautiful, long wet strands of hair falling into his face, a smile so wide that it makes Fernando’s heart stutter.

Fernando kisses him then, drags him to his bedroom in a rush of unexpected lust and strips him out of his wet clothes, traces his tattoos with the tip of his tongue. Usually he doesn't invite guys he just met into his bed and he definitely doesn't go down on them like he's starving for it or swallows afterwards, but with Sergio everything's so so different.

He finds himself begging to be fucked and when Sergio does, he feels like he’s being torn apart in the best of ways. They unravel together, slowly and intertwined, bodies pressed together too closely, faces only barely apart and whispering words into each other's skin that are far too intimate for just a simple one night stand.

*

"Listen, I'm sorry, but i have to go," Sergio says afterwards, pulls his pants and shirt on hastily. "i have an exam first thing in the morning."

"Fernando nods, thinks Sergio wears the mask of pretend regret almost too well, hopes he doesn't notice the forced curve of his smile.

"Hey, can i maybe get your number?" Sergio aks, gnaws on his bottom lip until it's red and bruised. Fernando's stomach does a weird flip flop.

"Sure," he agrees, scrambles for a pen so he can scrawl it on his arm. Almost laughs at how cheesy the whole thing is.

"Thanks, i had a great time this weekend," Sergio grins, vanishes through the door and it's not like Fernando has any illusions that he'll actually call, guys like Sergio Ramos never do. Still his heart feels heavy as he rolls over in bed, not bothering to change the sheets or to clean himself up. He falls asleep, face hidden in a pillow that still smells like Sergio's skin.

Outside, Sergio stares up at the dark window, overwhelmed with the need to go back inside, to curl himself around Fernando's warm body, the intensity of it almost unbearable and no one has ever managed to get this far under his skin, captured every single one of his thoughts. He drags himself home, fingers brushing over the black letters on his arm, still feeling the ghost of Fernando's touch all over his body.

*

Fernando wakes to the ringing of his phone. He's exhausted and depressed, it's 6:30 in the morning and the caller is an unknown number so he ignores it and goes back to sleep. But whoever is calling is nothing but persistent and eventually Fernando can’t tune out the noise anymore.

"What?" he barks into the phone, not really in the mood for pleasantries.

"Fernando?" A low familiar rumble echoes through the phone and just like that he's wide awake, his heart pounding erratically in his chest.

"Sergio?"

"Look, I know it's early and I'm sorry if I woke you, but do you want to maybe do something tonight? We could go see a movie or something, there's also a game on if you just want to come over to my place, or…"

"Sergio," Fernando interrupts his ramblings with a chuckle.

"Yeah?"

"I'd love to."

"Oh thank god." Fernando feels Sergio's sigh of relief all the way through the phone, feels it reverberating in own his chest and he’s pretty sure he’s grinning like an idiot.

"Shit,” there’s some frantic rustling on the other end of the line. “I've got to go, my exam starts in half an hour."

"Good luck. I'm sure you're gonna do great."

"Thanks. Can't wait for tonight."

"Me neither, call me when you're done with the test."

"Sure…and Nando…,” Sergio’s voice suddenly takes on a soft gentle quality. “I can't stop thinking about you."

Fernando's heart skips a beat. "Me too."

Fernando has a grin plastered to his face all day long, counting down the minutes until tonight and later when they finally meet up Sergio greets him with a kiss and a smile that's so bright it makes Fernando weak in the knees.

**Author's Note:**

> I live for Kudos and Comments! Don't be shy, i usually don't bite :)


End file.
